Women's Participation in Tourism in Zanzibar. An Enactment Perspective

Abstract:

To shed more light on the position of women in tourism, in this thesis I examined the ways women in Zanzibar have incorporated working in tourism in their daily lives by comparing those who work in tourism as entrepreneurs with employees, working in hotels and restaurants. Conceptually my thesis is framed within Weick’s theory of enactment, with special focus on the concept of sensemaking. I used this particular framework to understand how women either reinforce or resist gendered identities by constantly ‘enacting’ their environments. Thus, my research showed how Zanzibari women working in tourism enact their environments by making sense of these in different ways. Although women mentioned the same factors to be of influence on their environments when they described their ability to work in the industry, they differ in their perceptions of these factors, and assign different meanings to available dominant social and cultural scripts. While some women explained a certain issue as a constraint, others described it as an opportunity. Generally, this study identified three main aspects of the environments women enact that frame the opportunities or/and constraints women face when working in tourism. These are religion, family and marriage, and education. Moreover, based on my findings I concluded that there are three central pathways of identity construction that influence the way women position themselves in the tourism industry, namely tradition, income and growth prioritisation. By portraying these three central pathways of identity construction, I argued that women differ significantly in the ways they make sense of and assign meaning to the environment. While some women think that religion, education, or marriage constrain their choices, other women understand these as opportunities they should take advantage of. Moreover, women are also able to influence their environment by applying or modifying traditional values such as ‘hospitality’ in order to justify their engagements in the industry.
Additionally, I made recommendations to policymakers in the final sections of my thesis. This study helps policy-makers to understand that women, such as women in Zanzibar, who are generally regarded as more vulnerable in comparison to men, are also able to negotiate with their environment and find ways to overcome their vulnerability and become more resilient. By studying the way women make sense of their environment and their work in tourism, it becomes possible to gain a better understanding of how their involvement in tourism can enhance human development at the individual level. A better understanding of the agency of women is also crucial to develop and implement strategies for sustainable economic development. I furthermore argued that since women make sense of the environment in different ways, perceive different opportunities and constraints, and on the basis of these make different choices, that programmes customised according to the differences among women should be developed. Second, I argued that these tailor-made programmes should focus on four interventions: education and training, working conditions, self-organisation and microcredit. Third, I argued that continued support to women’s groups is necessary to keep doors open for women to enter the tourism industry. These groups help women to balance their different responsibilities at home and at work. Fourth, I recommended the promotion of micro, small and medium enterprises by issuing microcredits in order to stimulate women to start businesses. These and possibly other interventions will increase the chances for women of finding employment in the tourism sector. More importantly, through these interventions, women will have more choices and will be able to decide for themselves if working in the tourism industry, either as an employee or as an entrepreneur, matches their wishes and demands.